


What A Small World This Really Is

by m11kewheeler



Category: Stitchers (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fluff, Stitchers - Freeform, camsten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-11 18:57:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4447904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m11kewheeler/pseuds/m11kewheeler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Cameron and Kirsten go to high school together</p>
            </blockquote>





	What A Small World This Really Is

 

Cameron couldn’t believe he was stuck in this class. In fact, he couldn’t even believe he was still stuck at school. He could have graduated a whole year ago thanks to his exceeded amount of credits, but his parents wanted him to get the real “senior year experience.” Needless to say, he was pretty bored in this stupid AP Physics class. It was the closest thing to computer science, which was his real passion. He just couldn’t wait to get out of high school. There was nothing here for him anyway.

“Okay class, it’s time to start our next project,” his teacher called out, snapping him out of his thoughts. “You are all going to be making rockets out of soda bottles. Use your knowledge on what you’ve been learning this semester to build your rocket.”

Cameron sighed. This class was way too easy for him. He made rockets for _fun_. He decided he would just construct it tonight and--

“And you all will be pairing up. You may choose your partners.”

Those were probably Cameron’s least favorite words in the entire dictionary. He had no friends in this class--let alone this school. And besides, he knew he could get things done faster if he worked alone.

“And that means _everyone_ , Mr. Goodkin.” _God, this guy was a mindreader_. Cameron looked around the room in hopes to find somebody to work with. His eyes fell on a girl who sat in the back of the room. She was the only other person without a partner.

“So, uh, wanna work together?” Cameron asked when he walked over to her.

“Sure,” the girl said. This girl was honestly a mystery to Cameron. She always sat in the back of the room and never spoke. He knew she was really smart, though, because he sometimes helped his teacher grade tests, and she always got perfect scores. The only thing he knew about her was her name, and that was only because it was always written on her work.

“My name’s Cameron,” he said, entirely aware of how awkward he sounded. “And you’re Kirsten, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So, um, do you want to come over to my house after school to start the rocket? Or we can work at your house. Either is--”

“Your house is fine,” Kirsten interrupted.

“Okay, cool. I’ll, um, meet you at the parking lot when school lets out.” _Stop saying um!_ He mentally scolded himself.

“Sounds good.” And with that, the bell rang and Kirsten left the room.

* * *

Okay, so it was kind of embarrassing to admit, but Cameron didn’t really talk to girls, well, ever. It wasn’t that he didn’t try to, it was just that girls never really came up to him. It was probably because he spent most of his time on his computer in his room. Instead of going to parties on the weekends, he studied. And to top it all off, he didn’t exactly have any friends. Well, unless you counted the lunch lady, who always gave him an extra cookie with his lunch.

Cameron spent his lunch time in the library most days. In addition to his passion for computer science, he also loved crime and mystery. He would always read mystery novels to take his mind off his lonely, mundane life. Except this time while he was reading, he couldn’t stop thinking about Kirsten. Not in a creepy way of course, but it was just that she was the first real girl he’s made conversation with in who knows how long. He couldn’t wait for school to end.

After another three long hours of classes that were way too easy for him, Cameron was finally free. He ran to the parking lot and stood by his car to wait for Kirsten.

Five minutes later, he saw her walking over to him. “Nice car,” she noted when she got closer.

“Um, here.” Cameron opened the passenger’s door for her. “It’s not a far drive to my house.”

“How could you afford this kind of car?” Kirsten asked as they made their way to Cameron’s house.

“My, uh, parents got it for me for getting into MIT,” Cameron said awkwardly. His parents had a lot of money, something that Cameron wasn’t always comfortable talking about with other people. Luckily Kirsten didn’t press him more on that.

“You got into MIT?”

Cameron smiled. “Yeah. It’s my dream school, actually. What about you, what school did you get into?”

“UC Santa Monica.”

“Wow! What major?”

Kirsten just shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. I don’t really know what I want to do. I like hacking and computers and stuff, but that’s not exactly legal. Is that _your_ house?” Her eyes were as large as saucers when she saw the enormous mansion Cameron was pulling up to.

“Um, yeah,” Cameron said, his cheeks turning red. “But don’t worry. I’m not one of those snobby rich kids,” he assured. He parked the car, hopped out, and opened the door for Kirsten--like a real gentleman.

“Hey mom, I’m home,” Cameron called out when the two of them walked inside.

“Hi, Honey, I--Oh! Who is this?”

“My name’s Kirsten,” Kirsten spoke up and shook the woman’s hand. Cameron was a bit surprised how bold she was. “Cameron and I are partners for a science project.”

“Oh how nice! It’s nice to see Cameron bringing home a girl!”

“Okay mom, we’re leaving now.” Cameron grabbed Kirsten’s arm and dragged her away before his mom could embarrass him even more. “Sorry about that,” he said when they reached the safety of his room.

“So about this rocket,” Kirsten started.

“Right, well, this rocket is going to be super easy to build,” Cameron said. “I’ve made soda bottle rockets before.”

“You seem like the type who would,” Kirsten teased.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s just get started.

* * *

A couple hours later, the two of them were still constructing the rocket. Cameron was working on the base of the rocket while Kirsten worked on the fins.

“Why are you so quiet all the time in class?” Cameron asked out of the blue, startling Kirsten a bit.

“Why do you care?” She asked softly, her cheeks turning pink. Cameron could tell this was a conversation she didn’t want to have.

“Because you’re the only real friend I’ve made in the past four years and I would like to know a little bit about you before we graduate in three weeks and will probably never see each other again after this.”

“It’s not exactly an easy explanation,” Kirsten said. “It’s a long story.”

Cameron shrugged. “I like long stories.”

So Kirsten explained about her condition, Temporal Dysplasia, and how it caused to be a social outcast. “Everyone would make fun of me because I always knew the answers and would raise my hand all the time,” she said. “They would also make fun of me for not being able to feel any emotions, so I thought it would just be easier to not speak up at all.”

“But you’re so smart,” Cameron said. “Who cares what people think?”

“The sad part is that I’m only realizing that now.”

“Well at least you’ll probably never have to see any of these people again after graduation.”

Kirsten nodded. “That’s true.” She glanced at Cameron. “You know, you’re the only person I’ve ever told about this.”

“I feel honored,” Cameron smiled.

“Your turn now,” Kirsten said after a moment of comfortable silence.

“My turn for what?”

“To explain to me why you are always alone.”

“Um, we should, uh, probably get back to the rocket…” Cameron nervously rubbed his head.

“No way! You are _not_ getting out of this,” Kirsten stated. “I told you all about me; now it’s your turn. Why don’t you have any friends?”

Cameron sighed. “Have you _seen_ me? I build rockets for fun. I spend my lunchtime in the library reading mystery novels. Instead of going to parties, I study for tests. The only time a girl has ever come up to me was in eighth grade and it was for a dare. I’m a loser,” he whispered the last part.

“If you don’t like that about yourself, why don’t you change something?” Kirsten asked. “Why didn’t you join a sports team or something like that?”

“Trust me, I wanted to more than anything, but…”

“But _what_?” Kirsten pressed.

Cameron took a deep breath and proceeded to unbutton his shirt, Kirsten watching with confused eyes. He removed his shirt, revealing a long scar running down his chest.

Before Kirsten realized what she was doing, she moved her hand to his chest, tracing the scar. Cameron was looking down, refusing to make eye contact with her.

“What happened?” She whispered.

Cameron went on to explain his heart condition and how it prevented him from doing any physical activities. “I felt like I was trapped,” he said. “Everyone around me was playing sports, and here I was, stuck in my room, being a loser. I used to love playing soccer, you know.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I haven’t been able to play it in over ten years.”

“I’m sorry,” Kirsten said. Her hand was still placed on his chest, but she didn’t move it.

“It’s okay. I’ve made my peace with being a loser.”

“You’re not a loser,” Kirsten whispered. Silence fell between the two of them.

Cameron could feel himself lean closer to her. _Am I about to kiss her?_ His mind was racing. Before his lips met hers, he heard Kirsten awkwardly clear her throat.

“We should, uh, get back to the rocket,” she said, removing her hand from his chest.

“Right.” Cameron could feel his face flushing. He looked over to Kirsten and saw that her cheeks were the same identical shade of red as his were. They worked in silence for the next hour, both stealing glances at each other every now and then when they thought the other wasn’t looking.

* * *

The next day, instead of eating lunch alone like she usually did, Kirsten joined Cameron in the library to eat. This became a normal occasion; every day they would eat lunch together, work a little more on their rocket, and just talk. Kirsten found that it was easy to talk to Cameron. The night of their almost kiss wasn’t talked about anymore, but Kirsten couldn’t ignore the giddy feeling in her chest whenever he smiled at her.

“Are you going to prom this weekend?” Cameron asked out of the blue one day. He and Kirsten were in the middle of going over homework answers at lunch.

“I don’t think so,” Kirsten shook her head. “Being surrounded by a bunch of kids who I can’t stand doesn’t sound like much fun.”

“Well what if we went, you know like, together, and we can just ignore everyone else?” Cameron offered.

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, it might be fun!”

Kirsten raised her eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t go to parties.”

“Well, yeah, but this is different.”

“Okay fine,” Kirsten finally gave in. “We’ll go as friends.”

_Friends_. Just hearing Kirsten say that made Cameron’s heart sink. “Right. Friends.”

Suddenly the bell rang, causing Kirsten to jump in her seat. “Right, well I gotta go to class. I’ll see you later.” She smiled at him one last time before leaving the library.

After she left, Cameron sunk into his seat, the word ‘friends’ playing over and over in his head. He tried to think why it was affecting him so much. They _were_ friends. After graduation they would be going their separate ways.

So why was it bothering him so much?

* * *

The day of prom, Cameron didn’t hear much from Kirsten. He figured she was spending the day getting ready, so he didn’t worry. He did decide, however, to be a gentleman and pick her up at her house and drive her to prom.

At 7:30 pm, he rang her doorbell. He couldn’t wait to see her in her dress. He didn’t know what it looked like, but he did know that she would look beautiful no matter what she was wearing. _She always did_ , he thought to himself.  

A minute later, Kirsten opened the door and Cameron just stood there in shock. She was wearing a beautiful dark red dress that came up to her knees, and her hair was curled around her face. 

“How do I look?” She asked innocently.

“You look...Um...Wow.” To say Cameron was speechless was a total understatement. He couldn’t even form words in his head.

“Thanks, I think,” she laughed.

“You look amazing,” Cameron said, finally able to find the words to say. “All those other girls have nothing on you.”  

“Yeah right,” Kirsten said. Her cheeks started to match the color of her dress. She got into his car and they drove to the school.

Ten minutes later, Cameron parked his car in the lot and the two of them walked together to the gym. “Are you nervous?” he asked her.

“Just a little,” Kirsten admitted.

Cameron took her hand and squeezed it. “You’ll be fine,” he assured. “Let’s do this.”

Prom was in full swing when Cameron and Kirsten entered the gym. All around them, their classmates were dancing, music was blaring, and strobe lights were flashing.

“This sure is something,” Cameron noted.

“Let’s dance!” Kirsten shouted over the music. Cameron wasn’t much of a dancer, but nonetheless he joined her on the dancefloor. However, instead of dancing, he was kind of just jumping up and down and waving his arms all over the place. Kirsten was doing the exact same. “I’m not a good dancer,” she laughed.

“Neither am I!”

They continued “dancing” for the next few songs, Cameron having to stop every few minutes to steady his heartbeat. Then, a slow song started to play and things became a little awkward.

“Do you still want to dance?” Cameron asked.

“Yeah,” Kirsten said. She put her arms around his neck as he placed his on her waist. They slowly moved back and forth to the beat of the music. “This is nice.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. The night of their almost kiss flashed across his mind. Here she was, her lips only inches away from his, and all he could think about was kissing her.

“When do you leave for MIT?” Kirsten asked.

“Right after graduation,” Cameron said, his voice full of sadness. “I’m taking summer classes there.”

“I’ll miss you,” Kirsten said so softly, he almost couldn’t hear her.

“I’ll miss you too.” _It’s now or never._ Cameron leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Kirsten hesitated for a split second before leaning in and kissing him back. He could feel her smiling into the kiss.

A few seconds later, they parted, and Kirsten rested her head against Cameron’s chest. “Will I ever see you again?” She mumbled.

“I _promise_ you, we will see each other again,” he assured.

Little did he know how right he was when they saw each other seven years later, both working for the Stitchers Program. Old feelings returned on both ends the second they locked eyes. Cameron laughed as he ran over to her, enveloping her in a hug.

“I promised you, didn’t I?”


End file.
